Instincts
by Marocrache
Summary: Alcohol is one hell of a drug. Post BoG (a few days later). Scared momma Videl and guilty doofus Gohan.


She could almost _see _the bullet lodged in her leg, ripping open her creamy skin.

Videl had been shot before. Once, many years back, when she had gotten careless during a bank robbery. She was hungry, she was tired, and frankly, she didn't feel like being a hero that day. She went home that night, and once the adrenaline died down and she started to feel an excruciating pain in her right shoulder, she wiped the crimson blood from the area to reveal that she had indeed been shot.

Not only was it an unpleasant experience for her – having to go to the hospital and get the bullet removed – it was also slightly terrifying. If that bullet had managed to reach its original destination – her chest – she could have been _killed_, and even for someone as tough and desensitized to danger as Videl, it still chilled her bones with fear.

This time, however, thank Dende – _literally _– for being there to heal her almost immediately. She was sort of relieved when he inquired about sensing a presence within her. Videl had planned to surprise her husband with an, _ahem_, unexpected pregnancy. For a while, she wasn't the only one who knew, and for one reason or another, it lifted a small weight off her back.

Videl sat on the edge of the bed and sighed, rubbing the skin that had recovered.. This was _not _how she wanted to spend tonight – entranced by a stupid thought. She supposed she should be grateful she wasn't injured too badly, but then again, she couldn't help but to feel enraged.

"Viddy?"

Her thoughts were interrupted when the gentle sound of her husband behind her caught her attention.

"Yeah?"

"Um... A-Are you ok? I mean, you've been sitting here for a while now. I was thinking maybe... maybe we could go grab something to eat?"

She sighed again, this time slowly, and shook her head. "Sorry, Gohan. I'm not in the mood to go out. Honestly, I'm not very hungry, either."

"_What?_" He asked, bewildered. "How can that be? You're _pregnant!_"

"I'm not all _that _pregnant yet, Gohan."

"Still..." he trailed. A silence lingered between them for a while, before he exhaled and sat down next to her. "Are you alright?"

She didn't respond for a moment or two, and just stared down at the floor. "Yeah."

"Now don't lie to me, Vid. You're not the enigma you used to be. I've gotten fairly good at reading you," he said, playfully nudging her side.

"Then why did you _ask _me if I was alright?"

"Well, because I was hoping you'd tell me what's on your mind." He looked down at her thigh, which was exposed quite nicely by the denim shorts she was wearing, as she rubbed the skin that had once been broken, and suddenly remembered what had happened. "Is it bothering you?"

"What?" she looked at him.

"The bullet wound. It should be gone now, but it looks like it's still irritating you."

"... Not physically. Mentally, yeah..."

"Mentally?" he asked, worried.

She looked down at the floor again. "Gohan... How could you put not just _me_, but _everyone else_ in danger so easily?" she asked firmly, which was like a smack in the face to him. "I get that you were drunk at the time, but what you did was _careless_. What if one of those bullets managed to _kill_ someone? Bills said a bullet hit him in the forehead. What if it was someone else – not a saiyan, not a god – a _human _sitting in that chair? What if it was, say, _Bulma_? Do you know what she would do to you if you got her killed on her _birthday?_" she asked worriedly. Saiyan or not, when it comes to the men, nobody puts them in their place better than the girls.

He sat there, flabbergasted at the idea, and even more so that he had considerably upset her. He looked down sadly. "I ...I think you're working yourself up by overthinking it, Vid. Besides, we always have the dragon balls. If anything like that happens-"

He was cut off when she shot up from the bed and whipped around to face her naïve husband. "That doesn't make it alright! The dragon balls don't always make things better!" She clenched her fists. "Death has become completely _meaningless _to you!" she shouted, tears welling in her eyes and gliding down her cheek as she stared at him for a moment, then turned and stormed out of the room.

"Viddy!" He shouted after her, but couldn't bring himself to move. His heart was pounding furiously in his chest, and he whimpered, feeling tears stinging in his cobalt eyes as he meekly rose from the bed and followed her.

He _had _to make things right.

* * *

Videl sat in the backyard of their home, under the tree that she and Gohan often sat under together. She felt _miserable_. She hadn't meant to yell at him like that. She didn't want to hurt him, and yet she was still in panic mode after recalling the whole ordeal. Maybe she _was _overreacting. Maybe she _was _overthinking things a bit too much, but with the pregnancy thrown on her so suddenly, all she could think about was the safety of her still-developing baby. She tried to tell herself that it was okay to act like this, that it was merely instincts that made her so over-protective. But she still couldn't drain her self-loathing at the moment.

She hugged her knees to her chest and began to cry, sobbing into her kneecaps under the starry night sky as she wished tonight never happened.

However, about a minute later, not even detecting a presence other than her own, she was startled – yet somewhat relieved – to be suddenly embraced by a burly set of arms as familiar and welcoming warmth enveloped her.

No words were spoken as she snuggled into his chest, burying her face into his shirt and crying even harder now. When her husband pressed his face against her neck, she was not prepared to find that his cheeks were wetted with his own salty tears, and that his ragged breathing was almost as shallow as her own. She felt even worse now. Gohan had been crying.

He rocked her back and forth as he gently cooed to her.

"Shh... It's alright, sweetie. It's alright."

"I-I'm sorry, G-Gohan..." she sobbed, muffled by the fabric of his shirt as she cried, "I didn't mean to yell at you. I-I just don't want anything to happen to the baby. I_ need _to keep it safe," she whimpered.

"_No, no_, it's okay, Videl. I understand why you would be so upset." He stroked her hair, whispering to her lovingly. "It was stupid of me to put you in danger like that. I won't _ever _do it again. I need to be more responsible if I'm going to take care of you... _and_ the baby. I'm going to be the best father ever, just you wait and see!" he beamed. "And I know that you're only thinking for the safety of our baby. I'm proud of you for caring so much."

She looked up at him, gripping his shirt. "Y-You are?"

"Absolutely. I couldn't have asked for a more loving mother to our child, Videl. If anything, I'm _overjoyed _that you're being so protective. It just assures me that our baby will be _safe... _in _your_ care," he smiled, pleased with himself as she hugged him tightly. It seems like his soothing words worked their magic, as he finally managed to calm her down.

He held her chin and tilted her face up, meeting her warm lips in a loving kiss. He pecked her nose, her cheek, her forehead, her temple, and finally settled for her lips again when she began to scratch his back, causing his muscles to relax. _Kami, that never gets old._

"I didn't mean what I said before," she finally confessed after a while, pulling away from him. "You know that, right?"

He nodded, and pulled her close, nuzzling her. "I love you."

She smiled, purring in happiness. "I love you more."

"Uh, I'll have you know that's _impossible_, because I love you infinity times infinity. That's a whole lot, Vi."

She chuckled, shaking her head. "It sure is."

* * *

**_fuckin lil shit gohan_**

**_more like gayhan am i right_**


End file.
